Lake George?

EJphotos

EJphotos

Well-Known Member
Planning to take my bike up to Lake George with me next week. Anyone ever ride up there? Saw a couple parks mentioned, Gurney Lane Bike Park and Brant Lake Bike Park. Also down for some scenic chill rides. Actually, mostly scenic chill rides. Not sure what those two bike parks are like.
 
Gurney is close to the village, Brant lake is, well at Brant Lake.
Gurney has lots of miles now with stacked loops and some directional trails.
Rush Pond is more of a loop.
Climbing isn't tough for the area.

Brant Lake is smaller, goes uphill right out of the gate. Worth going for a couple of the views.

Road riding isn't bad along the schroon river, and there is a bike path/rail trail from Lk George to Glenns Falls

The Pinnacle in Bolton is a climb up to a viewing area - but doesn't reward you on the way down.

Popular road climbs are Granite Mountain out of Hague, and Prospect Mountain out of Lk George Village.

Hike Cat Mountain, Buck Mountain, and go to ADK Extreme for alternate fun. Check Tubby's for tubing and other water options.

Somewhere up there is one of the train track bike things. Was looking awhile back, but don't recall.
 
Gurney lane for certain. Be sure to ride the southern section too. Lots of perfectly built trails that flow nicely. Nothing too technical. When we vacationed in Bolton Landing I would drive to SMBA too. About a 40 minute drive (30 if you’re staying in LG village). But SMBA can be tough in spots. The other option is to drive 45 mins to Slate Valley trails in VT. If you’ve never been it’s worth it.

I have tried Moreau Lake. Not crazy about that. Super steep climbs to get to “meh” singletrack. Also done the Tongue Mountain trail. It’s a beast of an out and back just north of Bolton, about 5 miles each way … scenic but doesn’t flow very well. There are also some rugged trails across the lake (Buck Mountain) but again they have great views but are more old school and not very flowy.

As @Patrick suggested, give ADK Extreme a try. Super fun. Have gone multiple times starting when the kids were pre-teen and now they’re in their late 20’s
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What @Patrick said, except I wouldn't say Rush Pond (aka Gurney Lane South) is a loop. There are many really fun fast & flowy professionally built MTB trails all over the park with berms & pump sections & some chunky trails too. Smoother than Gurney since it's newer. Seems like they're adding a new trail every year. There is a gravel road loop that is for hikers or casual bikers (10 mph speed limit).
Both Gurney Lane North & South (aka Rush Pond) are really fun well designed MTB trails.

Plus 2 Saratoga parks (only 15-20 min farther from LG than Gurney):
- Graphite Range which is fast & flowy with decent climbing. Really fun professionally built MTB trails.
- SMBA starting from Daniels Road or Artisan Brewery. Definitely the biggest trail network & most challenging. Rocks & roots all over.
It's much easier starting from Daniels Road vs the brewery. Starting at the brewery is a pretty long steep climb before you get to the goodness.
On the flip side you finish with a pretty awesome descent and a brewery.

I would go to Saratoga before Brant Lake. The initial climb at Brant Lake (Stairway to Heaven) sucks IMO. Steep, loose, muddy. Unless you like that. Once you're at the top it's more fun, but not that many trails.

Be prepared for black flies. I heard they were bad In Lake Placid. Not sure about the southern ADK.
 
icebiker said:
Gurney lane for certain. Be sure to ride the southern section too. When we vacationed in Bolton Landing I would drive to SMBA too. About a 40 minute drive (30 if you’re staying in LG village). The other option is to drive 45 mins to Slate Valley trails in VT. If you’ve never been it’s worth it.

I have tried Moreau Lake. Not crazy about that. Super steep climbs to get to “meh” singletrack. Also done the Tongue Mountain trail. It’s a beast of an out and back just north of Bolton, about 5 miles each way … scenic but doesn’t flow very well. There are also some rugged trails across the lake (Buck Mountain) but again they have great views but are more old school and not very flowy.
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Tongue Mountain has lots of Rattle Snakes. So don't stop!
 
Sven Migot said:
What @Patrick said, except I wouldn't say Rush Pond (aka Gurney Lane South) is a loop. There are many really fun fast & flowy professionally built MTB trails all over the park with berms & pump sections & some chunky trails too. Smoother than Gurney since it's newer. Seems like they're adding a new trail every year. There is a gravel road loop that is for hikers or casual bikers (10 mph speed limit).
Both Gurney Lane North & South (aka Rush Pond) are really fun well designed MTB trails.

Plus 2 Saratoga parks (only 15-20 min farther from LG than Gurney):
- Graphite Range which is fast & flowy with decent climbing. Really fun professionally built MTB trails.
- SMBA starting from Daniels Road or Artisan Brewery. Definitely the biggest trail network & most challenging. Rocks & roots all over.
It's much easier starting from Daniels Road vs the brewery. Starting at the brewery is a pretty long steep climb before you get to the goodness.
On the flip side you finish with a pretty awesome descent and a brewery.

I would go to Saratoga before Brant Lake. The initial climb at Brant Lake (Stairway to Heaven) sucks IMO. Steep, loose, muddy. Unless you like that. Once you're at the top it's more fun, but not that many trails.

Be prepared for black flies. I heard they were bad In Lake Placid. Not sure about the southern ADK.
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Only add is that Brant Lake had added some new trails near the top last year off of Rebound/Rebound Loop. They were not really broken in yet August of last year, but added some fun.

Brant Lake is fun if you are close to it, but that initial climb up is a bit loose, but nothing too crazy. I think its worth a look especially for the views from the top!
Gurney lane/rush pond, took the kids and they had a ton of fun (we rode it with macrides on the bike with them).

My goal this year is to get down to Daniel's Road in Saratoga when we go up there, but its a bit of a longer drive from the Hague area where we stay.
 
Can't speak for the trails closest to LG, but SMBA is a fun system. @Sven Migot introduced me to them as we rode in from Artisan and it was a good time. Try to go when it's dry though as there's lots of roots that get amazingly greasy with a little moisture.
 
Brant lake is awesome with an emtb 😁
It is also small for emtb but worth a quickie and multiple laps. Mind you I used to climb this on my rigid SS so definitely doable.
I've also gone out to Gore but was difficult to follow.
Gurney is go to as well as Daniels road
 
Thanks for all the insights! I'll be staying in the village of Lake George, south end of the lake. I'll definitely check out Gurney. Just bringing my hardtail xc mtb.
 
EJphotos said:
Thanks for all the insights! I'll be staying in the village of Lake George, south end of the lake. I'll definitely check out Gurney. Just bringing my hardtail xc mtb.
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There's also the MUT to Glen Falls but the short drive to SMBA let's u ride the 4th best trail system in NY.
 
I don’t see Kalabus Perry in there at all. It’s not tech at all and flowy. This is the place to go if it’s raining or just rained a lot. It drains nicely.
 
Purl said:
I don’t see Kalabus Perry in there at all. It’s not tech at all and flowy. This is the place to go if it’s raining or just rained a lot. It drains nicely.
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KP is also an option, but farther south than smba & graphite range. While KP is good, Rush is much better and drains just as good. Rush dries out very fast and is more fun & closer to LG IMO. I would think Graphite Range also drains well because the trails are well designed, but not sure.
SMBA (aka Daniels Rd/Artisan brewery) definitely needs to dry out.
 
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